It is known to stamp a unique weapon number into the frame or butt of a firearm for the purpose of tracking ownership and/or use of the weapon. Firearms are well known (see, for example, DE-OS 44 33 337) which, along with the usual stamped weapon number, include an electronic chip which also contains all the necessary information for uniquely identifying the weapon. In these known firearms, the chip is easily identifiable and can be removed, if desired, so that the weapon becomes indistinguishable from a weapon which never had a chip.
In most countries the identification numbers of handguns and other firearms are registered such that, if a lost weapon is found or if a weapon is used in a criminal act, its origin can be confidently ascertained by accessing a database associating weapon numbers with weapon owners. In this way it can be determined which authorized person (e.g., a weapons dealer, a soldier, a civilian) was the last authorized person to acquire the weapon. This information can be used to return a lost weapon to its rightful owner, or, in the case of criminal activity, to identify a person that mis-used a weapon. If the weapon was lost or stolen, this fact would ordinarily be on record.
For registration purposes every weapon is assigned a unique weapon or identification number as mentioned earlier. The weapon or registration number is typically a unique identification code consisting of numbers and/or letters which is stamped into the main part of the firearm. For example, the identification number may be stamped into the butt of an automatic pistol. Identification numbers are equivalently referred to herein as “number,” “registration number,” “weapon number,” “serial number,” and “identification number.” In most countries, even weapons which, for whatever reason, were manufactured with no number, are required to be subsequently stamped with a recorded identification number uniquely identifying the weapon.
If the butt of a firearm is made of metal, the registration number is usually stamped a considerable depth into the butt, so that the simple filing down of the number does not prevent it from being restored and read later. However, if the corresponding section of the butt is cut out or stamped over multiple times with similar stamped letters, reproduction of the number may be rendered impossible, or at least made very difficult.
If the handle of a firearm is made of plastic, a metal plate bearing a registration number may be embedded into the handle. This plate can typically, however, be milled out without rendering the weapon useless such that at least a few shots can still be fired.
To at least render it difficult to prevent the identification of a weapon, it is well known to stamp at least parts of the identification number in multiple (or even all) possible parts of the weapon. However, this measure originally served the purpose of avoiding accidental interchange of the individual parts of two or more weapons during, for example, the cleaning of military weapons.
A small number of authorized persons illegally pass on their weapons to unauthorized persons. If such a weapon is found, its authorized person can be easily traced on the basis of the identification number, provided this has not been made impossible by means of removing the number or rendering it illegible.
While it is true that using electronic identification codes or devices in weapons is already well known (see, for example, WO 98/04880, DE 40 22 038 and DE 39 11 804), the presence of these devices in a firearm are not disguised or otherwise hidden and, thus, these devices are subject to frustration through tampering and/or removal.